MOSES LAKE — Pit bull fans, pack your party hats, flying discs and dog treats for this Saturday afternoon. Beck ’n Call Pet Care in Ephrata will host its first “Pitty Party” to help highlight pit bulls before National Pit Bull Awareness Day on Oct. 26.

Jennifer Beck, owner and operator of Beck ’n Call Pet Care, said she wanted to host the event to help bring some positive light to the dog breed and counteract a negative reputation attached to it. Pit bull owners can drop off their pup for free on Saturday to come “party” with other dogs, while owners of other dog breeds can get day care at half the cost for the day.

Beck said her business typically sees about five or six pit bulls coming in each week. Virtually everyone that works at the pet care facility currently, or has at one time, has owned a pit bull.

“Pit bulls just really have a special place in our hearts, and we want to do something for them, especially with all the negative attention they’ve been getting lately,” Beck said. “We have some amazing pit bulls that come in, whether it’s for day care or for boarding.”

While they might look terrifying to some, she said they are usually the sweetest babies in the world. Beck said they’re just looking for love all the time, curling up in your lap if given the chance.

She said she’s hoping Saturday’s event can improve some people’s perceptions.

“We work closely with the rescue, and pit bulls are really hard to adopt out,” Beck said. “People see a picture and have this concept in their mind of what they think this breed is. And they’re not educated on the breed, what it can be.”

It’s unfortunate that a negative reputation has grown around pit bulls, she said. The owners, not the dogs themselves, are responsible for creating the “monstrous” animals that often lead to these misconceptions, she added.

Beck said her business typically posts photos of dogs on social media every day, and she’s hoping the staff will have a huge number of videos and photos of pit bulls playing on Saturday to help showcase the breed to the public.

“I’m hoping we’ll be able to blast the pictures that we get and the videos of them just being goofy, playful pups that they are, not the ferocious creatures that some people have made them out to be nationwide,” Beck said.

Chihuahuas are the number one biter of people, Beck said. Yet, Chihuahuas are allowed to be in apartment complexes and many other places that pit bulls often aren’t.

Beck has been operating in-home pet care in the Grant County area since 2012 and moved it to the current location in 2018. Beck ’n Call offers doggy day care six days a week, boarding year-round, in-home pet care and basic grooming.

She said her love for animals came from her first job she had when she was 13, working at Quail Point Kennels in Ephrata. “It’s been my passion ever since,” she said.

After closing down initially due to the shutdown from COVID-19 in March, she said it took a few months for the business to build back up as people slowly got back into their routines. October is typically a slower month, another reason Beck said she decided to host the Pitty Party.

Beck said she is hoping for nice weather on Saturday so her team can bring out all of the bells and whistles for the pit bulls on their special day.

“We’re hoping to have the pools out and more toys than we can count and just have a blast,” Beck said.

As of Wednesday, she has about 16 people signed up for the weekend event, not all of them with pit bulls.

She said she is definitely looking to continue the Pitty Party every year that the weather permits.

Casey McCarthy can be reached at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.